Hey Zuki guys, I'm a Jeep guy and Im thinking of building a Zuki and have a basic plan in mind. My plans are quite simple please feel free to critique them and give recomendations:

I have a couple questions also:

1. Whats the best years to look for when buying a Zuki? *I would like a FI motor, I think those started in 1990????
2. Why do most people use the Toyota axles and not Dana 44's or something?
3. I see many people either run dual x-fer cases or swap gears to a lower ratio in the case, what preferable?

I'd skip the shackle reversal and go straight to the SPOA YJ springs. People usually go with toyotas because they are strong stock and with Longfield Birfs they can be pretty much indestructible, especially with a stock motor and only 35s. I don't see and problem with just lower tcase gears for your tire choice.

I'd skip the shackle reversal and go straight to the SPOA YJ springs. People usually go with toyotas because they are strong stock and with Longfield Birfs they can be pretty much indestructible, especially with a stock motor and only 35s. I don't see and problem with just lower tcase gears for your tire choice.

Do the Sami's run the toyota axles stock? Do they need to be upgraded to handle 35's?

- Sammi's are all about the same. 86-90 were carb'd. in 90-91 they went to efi/ throttle body injection & changed the 5th gear in the tranny.
- toy axles are nice with the drop out thirds ( think ford 9") depending on your driving style 35's will work on good stock toys, but there are lots of upgrades for them.
- in stock form the engines take a fair amount of abuse but lacked power. most choose either a 1.6 8valve tracker easy mod, or the 1.6 16 valve tracker motors. lots of wiring/electrical.
- sammi's work because there small & light, something that gets lost easily.

OTT= Over The Top Its used two ways. As a Comapny name for a Comapny specializing in Toyota and Suzuki upgrades (and some other makes) and also as Over The Top steering upgrades.
In this case its a Company name.

For axle upgrade, Look at Toyota axles becouse of thier wieght, strength (31 spline shafts) and upgrades available (Chrom-Molly shafts). The Drop out thirds a benifit as well in my opinion. Sock gearing, they come with 4.10:1 (manual trans) or 4.30:1 (automatic trans). Factory electric lockers are a great option front and rear.
Under a Samurai, stock Toyota axles will handle 35" tires with no problems especially with any of the suzuki 4 cyl engines (1.3/1.6 8valve/1.6 16valve).

T-case gears is where you will sink some of your cash. 6.5:1 gears for the t-case are the current price point it seems. the factory case is good, but you need to mount it with good mounts and armour to make it last in the rocks.
another way you could go though is with a Toyota W56 transmison and bell housing adapter (the "RingR" and "Lucky-13") kit. that will alow you to use a Toyota T-case with a doubler case. Its kinda your choice, though the Toyota running gear is stronger (but still light wieght) Cost wise, it will be less expensive in the long run using the toyota gear, but its more money up front and more work.

For suspension, YJ springs, Spring over axle and add a anti wrap bar to the rear axle and your set. yor stretching the wheel base, so dont use the missing links, build it for regular shackles.
Steering will depend on the axles used. Factory suzuki, get the Breeze Mfg Over the knuckle steering, it works very well.
For Toyota axles, use any of the aftermarket Toyota over the knuckle steering upgrades or a drop pitman arm. Use a Toyota IFS power steering box, you will need to add a power steering pump, none of the Samurais came with power steering, so use a Tracker setup.

There is alot more I could tell you, but it will just confuse you right now.

Remember, the basic montra for the Samurai is: "Keep it Low, Keep it Light"
No Dana axles, no huge lift and tires, no iron block engines.

Follow that and you will have a light, strong, very capable and fun rig.

If I were building something along the lines of what you are talking about it would be a 95-100" WB, pick your suspension.... Tracker 16V engine and manual trans to a kicker 4 and married to a sami t-case with your choice of low range gears. Then run toyota axles and some 35's.

It's about as simple as you can get while keeping a lot of functionality.

If I were building another one, I wouldnt waste my time with all the sami BS. I'd swap toyota axles into a 99+ 2 door tracker and save the engine swap and get some A/C and nice perks to make the trail more comfortable.

if i were building something along the lines of what you are talking about it would be a 95-100" wb, pick your suspension.... Tracker 16v engine and manual trans to a kicker 4 and married to a sami t-case with your choice of low range gears. Then run toyota axles and some 35's.

It's about as simple as you can get while keeping a lot of functionality.

If i were building another one, i wouldnt waste my time with all the sami bs. I'd swap toyota axles into a 99+ 2 door tracker and save the engine swap and get some a/c and nice perks to make the trail more comfortable.

all pretty good advice so far ..Id go 1.6 16v 5speed trans stock t/c with 6:5/1gears (with a good mount system) a spring over lift power steering some locked toyota axles 35s that arent too wide like someone said samurais are cool because their light & small but you can loose the charm pretty easy

..... though the Toyota running gear is stronger (but still light wieght) Cost wise, it will be less expensive in the long run using the toyota gear, but its more money up front and more work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by orionn

Remember, the basic montra for the Samurai is: "Keep it Low, Keep it Light"No Dana axles, no huge lift and tires, no iron block engines.

Mark,

Couple questions: No Dana axles, why? D44's aren't that expensive and parts are cheap and easy to come by? With 35's either axles stock will live just fine and with chromo shafts in either a D44 or a Toy 8" isn't the generally excepted tire max the same anyway = 38's ?

Couple questions: No Dana axles, why? D44's aren't that expensive and parts are cheap and easy to come by? With 35's either axles stock will live just fine and with chromo shafts in either a D44 or a Toy 8" isn't the generally excepted tire max the same anyway = 38's ?

So is it the weight factor? Do the Toy axles just swap in easier?

I have heard of there being some difficulty, on the dana 44s, putting a spring perch on the passenger side due to the in-cast stock perch.

Couple questions: No Dana axles, why? D44's aren't that expensive and parts are cheap and easy to come by? With 35's either axles stock will live just fine and with chromo shafts in either a D44 or a Toy 8" isn't the generally excepted tire max the same anyway = 38's ?

So is it the weight factor? Do the Toy axles just swap in easier?

Yes the Toyota axles do swap in easier overall, they end up easier to work on as well due to the drop out third members, there is no carier break to worry about, the shafts are slightly larger in diameter (31 spline not 27) and they are all king pin knuckles.
the only drawback to them is the turning radius is slightly larger than the open knuckle Dana axle.
The stock Toy shafts are good up to 37" tires and 5.27 gears.
with ChromMo shafts they are good to 40"+ (depending on the gearing, how your driving skills are and how heavy of a foot you have).

Its your choice, but I feel the stock Toy axle edges out the D44 by enough to matter.
Its where I would put my money on any midsize rig or smaller.